


Impersonations

by pirategirljack



Category: 12 Monkeys (TV)
Genre: AU, F/M, Fluff, romcom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-21
Updated: 2015-06-21
Packaged: 2018-04-05 12:18:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4179591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pirategirljack/pseuds/pirategirljack
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt:<br/>you broke off your engagement with your long-time boyfriend/girlfriend who you were supposed to bring home to meet your family so now you need me to pretend to be them</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Whoops, this one got too long already for that other Prompt Fluff thing that I set up...

Cole heard his neighbor arguing with her fiance almost every night. At first, it was annoying. Then it was sort of like a slightly unpredictable live-action radio show--a few times, he and Ramse had made popcorn and sat in the living room listening to the screaming through the walls.

But it had been going on for weeks now, and Cole was feeling bad for her. They’d never spoken, but he’d seen her at the mailboxes and in the halls. She always looked sad, but she always smiled at him like nothing was wrong. He knew from that time he got her mail and the couple of times he’d seen her getting off work in a lab coat that she was some sort of medical professional, and secretly, he thought she should be able to afford a place better than this. He didn’t have much choice on a working-man’s salary, but she should be better paid.

Still, he was always glad to see her.

And now, it was the third night in a row that the walls had been totally silent, not a single word shouted. If he hadn’t seen her this morning, he would have worried that her asshole fiance had killed her or something. Cole never liked the guy. Too upper-crust. Too sure he had all the answers for everything and everyone. Too unwilling to get his hands dirty. Maybe that’s why he hadn’t killed her. Murders are messy.

Cole came home with an armfull of groceries when her door opened a few down from his while he was trying to find the right key for his own lock. She was on the phone, holding it against her shoulder with her chin as she fished around in her bag for something, her blonde hair falling over her shoulder like a wave of freaking gold or something. She was way too pretty. She was wearing her lab coat, so she must be on the way to work.

“I know I said I’d come, but things have--things have gotten complicated. With work. Yeah, just with work, everything’s fine with Aaron. Dad, calm down, I’m just saying--”

She stopped in the middle of the hall and let her bag fall back into place across her shoulder. 

“Yeah, dad, I know mom would’ve wanted me there. I haven’t missed a year yet, I just--” She sighed, and her shoulders drooped, and Cole remembered he was supposed to be looking for his keys. “Yeah, dad. I’ll be there.”

For a moment, she just stood there, looking at her phone. Then she said “Aaron, you asshole, couldn’t you have bailed at a better time?”

And then, to Cole’s absolute mortification, she looked up and saw him looking at her. He tried to stuff his key into the lock and missed three times.

“You, what’s your name?”

“Uh. Cole?”

“Well, Uh Cole, I have a proposition for you.”

Panic turned Cole’s stomach to water. “What?”

“I have this--well, this family thing. It’s my mom’s birthday--was my mom’s birthday--and we all get together and remember her. I can’t miss it. But I’d already told everyone I was bringing my fiance to meet the family, and dad’s health is too fragile to let him think his little girl has been wronged.”

“Um. And?”

“And I need you to pretend to be him.”

“Come again?”

“Look, this is probably the last time we’re all going to be together with any of our parents, and he’s all we’ve got left. I can’t let him die thinking I’m unhappy. Just be Aaron for one day. Just one day, and I’ll, like, I don’t know, pay your rent or something.”

That didn’t seem exactly kosher to Cole, but he knew how low his bank account was this month, and he was more than aware of how close rent was. This should be easy money, right? 

He’d taken too long to answer. “Look, I know we’ve never really spoken, but I see you almost every day and you seem like a good guy who could use a little help. Maybe a little adventure. Come on.”

“Um.”

“Fine, I’ll ask someone at the office. Never mind.”

She stormed past him, headed for the elevators, but his hand decided to take things into it’s own--um, hands--and caught her elbow. “I’ll do it.”

Her face burst into a smile, and it was like all the lights in the hall clicked up three notches in brightness. And she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed. “Thank you,” she breathed into his ear, sending shivers all down his spine. He’d just managed to get his arms around her when she pulled back again. “I’ll pick you up when I get off work tonight at nine, we’ll get there before breakfast tomorrow.”

“Um,” he said, but she was already down the hall, her hair swinging and flowing over her shoulders, leaving him with a crumpled bag of groceries and his keys in his hand. “What?”

***

“And you just agreed to be that asshole for a day?” Ramse said when he’d finished explaining how weird his morning was to his best friend. “You must have it bad.”

“Shut up and be useful. What should I do?”

“Sorry, can’t talk and shut up at the same time.”

“Ramse. What should I do.”

Ramse took a slow sip of his beer, then rolled the bottle between his hands thoughtfully, and Cole knew he was doing it just to make him squirm. It worked. He was practically crawling out of his skin before he finally got around to answering. “I think you should do it.”

“What?”

“Look, dude, you need the money. I don’t have it to give you. She offered it willingly. I don’t see what the problem is. Besides, it’s the weekend. You’ve got the time. Just go. How hard can it be?”

“I don’t know anything about this guy!”

“We know he’s a politician,” Ramse said, ticking things off on his fingers as he went, “we know they haven’t been dating long, we know he’s a total jerkwad.”

“That’s not enough to impersonate the guy. It’s definitely not enough to make her family like him and convince them that she’s happy.”

“That’s up to her. Not your problem.”

Cole looked into the beer halfway down the bottle. “I’m not gonna make her life harder.”

“Yeah, you’re gone.”

“Shut up.”

“So you gonna do it?”

“Yeah.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part two! It got long and a little sadder than I was intending, but here ya go!

By the time Cassie showed up, Cole had packed an overnight bag four times and finally decided on just the bare minimums. He’d also changed his clothes twice, trying to decide what a politician would wear in his offtime, messed with his collar too many times to count, made a dinner he hardly ate because of nerves, and fallen asleep. When she knocked on his door, it startled him so bad he almost fell off the couch.

“Hey,” she said, “you ready to go?”

“Yeah, yeah, ready.” He grabbed his bag, locked his door, and followed her to her car. It was one of those small, sharp hybrid things, and the engine was too quiet. It made the fact that he didn’t know what to say to her that much worse. Thankfully, she started filling the silence with a huge pile of stuff he needed to know to be this Aaron he’d never seen. The man she described didn’t sound like the man he’d heard yelling mean things at the woman he claimed he loved enough to marry, and had recently dumped right before a big family event.

“Got it?”

“Sure,” he said, though he’d lost track of it somewhere in the middle of all the schooling this guy had. “Can I ask a question?”

“Shoot.”

“Why did you guys fight so much if he’s so great?”

She cut a glance at him, and then back to the road, and her cheeks were a little too pink for it to be a cute blush. She frowned, and it made her full lips look fierce and almost hard. “This is who I thought he was. That’s who I want my family to know.”

“Got it,” he said. Cole was never that great with words, or with people for that matter, but he was determined to earn his pay on this. She was clearly upset, and he wasn’t going to make it worse.

***  
They drive through the night. Cole sleeps through a lot of it, occasionally offers to take over driving, but Cassie keeps the wheel. It’s like she has to, to keep going. He decides not to argue. This time of year, there’s not a lot of night, and if she thinks she can handle it, he’s gonna let her.

They arrive at a house far enough into the country to have a huge plot of land, but not so far that it’s not part of a neighborhood. Cassie takes a deep breath before taking her hands off the wheel. 

“Ready?”

“Ready.”

People are already coming out of the house to meet them, and Cassie introduces him to sisters, cousins, an aunt, three uncles, and, finally, her dad. He’s standing, and smiling, but he looks like a stiff wind could blow him away. 

“Finally, we meet!” the man says. 

“Yeah, finally. Almost thought she’d never take me home,” he shoots a look at her to see if that’s the right thing to say, but she’s hugging her sisters and not looking at him.

“Come in, come in. Breakfast’s almost ready.”

***  
When breakfast was almost done, Maggie, the middle sister, who looked like a bigger version of Cassie, looked Cole dead in the eyes and said, “So. How did you guys meet?”

Cole’s mind goes dead blank, and all he can think to do is stuff more pancakes in his mouth so that he doesn’t have to answer. Cassie looks panicked--he’s failing already--but she recovers quickly, and she says they met at his office when she was called in to consult on some CDC protocol maybe six months ago.

“So recently? You must’ve swept her off her feet!”

“Maggie.” Cassie’s voice isn’t trying to hide that it’s a warning.

“Well, she’s gorgeous,” Cole says, and feels the blush creeping up his face, “I had to do something to catch her eye.”

A small smile from Cassie at that. He’d passed that test.

“Like what?” Maggie’s eyes are practically fused on Cole’s face, and he blush is now feeling like half a fever. She’s got the same light eyes as Cassie, the same golden hair, but she’s not as nice or as contained, Cole can see that, and she’s much pushier. She’s not giving up. “Come on, it’s got to be something big, to turn our reasonable Cassie’s head so far.”

“Maggie, don’t.”

“I’m just saying it’s out of character, sis. Getting engaged only six months after you meet someone. It took you almost that long just to kiss that guy you dated in high school!”

Cassie stands up so quickly she almost knocks her chair over, and crushes her napkin in her hands, but when she speaks, her voice is level and calm. Cole, though, is close enough to see that she’s shaking. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get some air.”

And she leaves.

Her whole family looks at him. Suddenly, Cole feels like he needs some air, too, and he gets up carefully and tries not to look like he’s not making eye contact as he apologises. “I’m just gonna be sure she’s okay.”

He finds her on the side porch, as far from the kitchen as he can get. She’s not crying or anything, which is good, because he was half-panicked trying to decide what he’d do if she was. He sits down next to her, close enough that they’d look like they were together, but not so close that he feels like he’s crowding her. “You okay?”

“Yeah, it’s just old stuff. Maggie never has let anything go. It’s why we don’t talk much.”

“So what did he do to woo you?”

“Woo me?” She turns and looks at him for the first time so she can make a point of lifting an eyebrow. That blush that never quite went away flares up again.

“Well?”

Her sarcastic smile softens a little. “He sent me flowers every day for a month until I agreed to go out with him.” Then her smile falters. “I should have known he was trying too hard.”

Silence for a moment, and then Cole picks a pretty pink flower from the shrub next to them and hands it to her. “For old time’s sake,” he says, and this time, she’s the one who blushes.

***  
Cole spends the rest of the morning being careful to not make eye contact with Maggie, and keeping close to Cassie. He puts his hand on her hip, once, when they were standing side by side, and she doesn’t make him move it, but he feels like he’s taking liberties and finds an excuse to move it.

In the afternoon, between breakfast and lunch, Cole hangs out with the guys--her cousins, her uncles. The game is on the TV, and Cole doesn’t care about it, but it’s a guy thing, and they focus on that and not on him, and he doesn’t have to answer more than basic questions during commercial breaks--where’s he from, what sort of family, would he like a beer? He answers them with his actual answers so that he doesn’t have to remember what he said to them later--outside Philly, orphaned and foster care, but it’s alright now, yes, he’d love a beer.

From the TV room, he can see across to the dining room where the women are, and he keeps finding himself looking at Cassie instead of the game. She’s more at ease with her younger sister, and a few of her cousins, and he can’t tell what they’re saying, but she laughs sometimes and it’s dazzling.

Damnit, Ramse was right. He’ll never admit it, though.

Once, she looks up and catches him staring like a doofus, and he looks away, but when he sneaks a look again a minute later, she’s smiling at him, and her cousins are watching them like they’re the most precious things. He can’t tell if it’s real or if it’s part of the act.

***  
“So when’re you two getting married?” One of Cassie’s cousins said when they were waiting for the grill to heat up enough for lunch. 

Cole wished he had more pancakes to stuff into his face, but since he didn’t, he answered “We haven’t decided yet?”

“Yeah,” Cassie said in a much more normal and controlled sort of tone, “things have been sort of crazy lately at work, so we’re playing by ear.”

“What about your work, Aaron?”

It takes Cole a little too long to remember that he’s supposed to answer to that name, and he catches the weird look on the cousin’s face when he looks up. “Oh, you know. Governmental.” But since she looks like she’s going to say something more and ask more questions he doesn’t know how to answer, he grabs Cassie’s hand and drags her toward the open grass where someone had just that second turned on a radio. “Let’s dance! Um, honey. Let’s dance, honey.”

He spins her up into his arms and out away from others, and only falters a little when he remembers that he’s not really a dancer. 

“Honey?” She says, and that eyebrow is back.

He laughs, and it’s real, which surprises him. “First thing I could think of. Maybe you’d prefer sugar bear?”

“God no.”

“Sweetcheeks?”

“If you call me that in front of my family I will smack you.”

He makes a show of trying to look over her shoulder to catch a look at her backside, and she swings around so that for a moment, she’s the one leading. “Are you sure? Because those look like some sweet cheeks…”

“Don’t you dare!”

“Pookie-lips?”

“Oh my god, I’m gonna puke right down your shirt just to make you stop.”

“Such a classy lady. What a catch.”

“Hey, I’m a medical professional. I can handle a little vomit. How about you?”

Cole found himself laughing again, and when the song changed, he swung her off into another dance, and then a third one when the song changed again. That one was slower, and he pulled her in close. She laid her cheek on his shoulder, and everything suddenly felt very far away. Other couples were dancing, the burgers were finally grilling, kids were running around screaming and getting screamed at like kids do. But all that really mattered was that Cassie was here with him, her heart close to his, and she was relaxed for the first time since that phone call yesterday morning.

***  
After dinner, there was a cake with candles for their mother, and Cassie blew them out. Her dad looked misty-eyed, and Cole held her hand when she stepped back to let the youngest sister, Elaine-not-Lainey, cut the cake. She looked up at him and smiled, and she squeezed his fingers back.

Somewhere, a phone rang, and someone answered it.

Right when Cassie passed a slice of cake to Cole, Maggie came into the room holding Cassie’s phone. “That was Aaron,” she said. “He called saying he wants to get back together.”

Every eye in the room turned on them. 

“Cassandra?” her dad said.

“Damnit, Maggie, why can’t you leave well enough alone?”

After that was a lot of yelling, and old family grievances, and Cole was the one who went and sat on the porch. They were still fighting, and it almost sounded like an amplified version of the stuff he and Ramse had listened to back home. But this time, Cole didn’t find it entertaining at all. He should've just said no.

After a long time, a beer came into his field of view, and he looked up the arm that held it to find Cassie’s dad. He jiggled the beer a little, and Cole took it, and the old man lowered himself carefully down next to Cole. 

“You don’t have to do that.”

“You look like you could use some company.”

“I don’t think I deserve any.”

“Nonsense.”

Cole eyed the older man out of the corner of his eye. “You’re not mad?”

He was quiet for a long time, then he said. “It’s been hard on Cassie. She was only ten when her mom died, and she’s the oldest, she she took it upon herself to be perfect. Now, with me...well, it’s only gotten worse. I don’t understand why she felt like she had to lie to us, but it’s basically harmless, no matter what her sister says. Let’s start over. I’m Joe. What’s your name.” He held out his hand.

“Cole,” Cole said, and shook it.

“Welcome to the family, Cole.”

“Oh, no man, you have it wrong. I’m just a decoy. We hardly know each other.”

Joe shifted around so he could pin Cole with a look not unlike the sort Ramse turned on him periodically when he thought Cole was being an ass. “I’m an old sick man, Cole, and I have been around long enough that I know a real thing when I see it. You two might have started out in a lie, but this--this is real.”

He clinked Cole’s beer with his, and took a long drink of it.

***  
They left not long after that. Cassie hardly spoke on the way home, so when they were maybe half way there, Cole said, “You don’t have to pay my rent. Everything went south, I can handle it on my own.”

“No, that was the agreement. And besides, I already did, before I picked you up.”

“You did? Why?”

She sent a very quick look his way, and he would have missed it if he wasn’t already focused on her profile. “I made a promise. And...and I believed in you.”

“Your dad says we have something real,” he blurted, and immediately wished he could take that back, and stuff it so far down his own throat it would never come out again.

“What?”

“We talked a little. He’s not mad. He says he can see it.”

“We hardly know each other.”

“That’s what I said, but he said it anyway.”

They were quiet for a while, while Cole tried to find the right words to say what he’d almost decided not to say, and now felt like he should at least try.

“Maybe...maybe we can see if he’s right?”

“You mean go on a date? A real one?”

“Yeah. Why not?”

Cassie took a moment, but it was a moment where a smile spread across her face. “I’d like that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” And when she pulled into her parking spot, she leaned over and kissed him, sweetly, right on the corner of his mouth. When she drew back, her hand fluttered over her hair and pushed it back behind her ear, and her cheeks were pink. “I’ll see you after work tomorrow?”

“I’ll--I’ll look forward to it.”


End file.
